2019 BMW Z4 officially revealed

The leaks, teasers and camouflaged cars are finally done with – here’s the first official images of the new Z4,.

The 2019 BMW Z4 has been officially unveiled ahead of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, after countless teasers, spy photos and leaks.

Sitting atop the range is the Z4 M40i, powered by a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six making 250kW (although non-Euro cars will offer up to 285kW because of differing emissions rules) and 500Nm, for a claimed 4.6 second 0-100 sprint time.

An eight-speed automatic transmission is the only option, working with an electrically-controlled rear differential to put the power down. Adaptive dampers will also be available, although there’s no word on which models will get them standard. Unlike the outgoing car, the new Z4 runs solely with a folding soft-top.

The new roadster, developed alongside the Toyota Supra, will initially be offered in the ‘Launch Edition’ guise pictured up top. Frozen Orange metallic paint, black mirror caps and bicolour 19-inch alloy wheels are standard on the outside, while the interior is finished in black leather with contrast stitching.

With electrically-adjustable seats, ambient lighting, a high-end Harmon Kardon sound system, a head-up display, and LED matrix headlights, it’s loaded to the gills with gear. BMW hasn’t revealed specs for the standard, non-Launch Edition car, but we’ll update this story with details when they’re available.

Inside, the Z4 gets a variation of the interior layout debuted on the 8 Series. It has a fully digital driver display, along with a widescreen central display as part of BMW OS7.0. Fret not traditionalists, there’s still a rotary controller on the transmission tunnel, though you’ll be able to interact with touch and voice control as well.

A four-cylinder variant will be offered, but we’ll have to wait until September 19 for more details. Filings from ZF have revealed the smaller engine should make 195kW, with Tetsuya Tada, chief Supra engineer, suggesting the four-cylinder will offer better weight distribution than the inline-six.

BMW is claiming a 50/50 weight distribution for the Z4 M40i, for what it’s worth.